Sunday, 2 October 2011

Adventures of Superman #427

I’m not going to insult you with long tales of woe
describing many reasons why I’ve not been active over here. There’s a very
simple reason for the lack of activity on this blog. For two months, I’ve not
felt like writing about Superman. I’ve been having a great time working on my
podcast, 20 Minute Longbox (itself suffering from a lack of time to put an
episode together), and for a while, I toyed with the idea of shutting the door
on this blog and letting the dust gather.

So, why did I change my mind? Put simply, I’ve been missing
Superman. With new blood and, indeed, a new Superman hitting the stands as part
of the New 52, I’ve been feeling strongly about the Man of Steel again. More
than ever, a project like this seems like something worth doing, celebrating
the comics that made many of us Superman fans at a time when, hopefully, many
people are finding similar things to celebrate in the new Superman. Oh, and I
miss arguing with myself over which order to do the comics in!

I’d like to think that this is a return to regular posting,
but if you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know that this isn’t
a promise that I can keep. The best way to keep up to date with happenings over
here is to subscribe, either through Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs,
both of which are over on the sidebar. That way, if I have another absence
(hint: I work in retail and Christmas is a-coming), you’ll know when I pick up
this project again.

Enough procrastination. If you’ll join me, I’d like to take
you on a journey to Qurac.

Mind Games

Brought to you by Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway

Lettered by John Costanza

Colored by Tom Ziuko

Edited by Andy Helfer and Mike Carlin

Cover Art: Jerry Ordway

Cover Date: April 1987

Release Date: 15/01/1987

Superman invade Quraci airspace, attacking Quraci defences.
He fights his way to the palace of President Marlo, bursting in and confronting
the dictator. He accuses Marlo of orchestrating the recent attacks on
Metropolis, but the dictator denies this, suggesting that rogue elements in his
country are responsible. Superman demands information, but suddenly collapses
as a result of a psychic attack from Prana, a feline-looking member of a
mysterious group called The Circle. Prana falls to his knees, his mind
connected with Superman’s.

Superman sees a vision of his parents on Krypton,
instructing him to conquer and rule the Earth. Superman attempts rejects this,
causing psychic feedback to Prana, who carries on with the illusion. The two
battle further with their minds, before Prana retreats. A drained Superman
leaves the palace, confused by the vision of his parents and their oppressive
instructions. He returns to the hotel he’s using as Clark Kent and falls
asleep, allowing Prana to re-establish contact with him.

Superman awakes in costume, confronted by Bizarro, Metallo,
Synapse and Lex Luthor. The villains attack him, demanding to know his true
motives, whilst Luthor works to undermine Superman’s confidence. Superman
fights back, denying Lex’s words and dispelling the illusions again. Prana is
once again weakened and pained by the contact, but he has become determined to
mentally defeat Superman. As Clark takes a shower to recover, Prana once again
makes contact.

Superman finds himself in Japan, where a Godzilla-esque
monster is attacking a city. Refusing to be bowed, Superman quickly defeats the
monster, shrugging off Prana’s attack. Prana, weakened by the final assault,
dies in the sewers beneath Qurac. His wife, Zahara, steals his powers and
combines them with her own, launching one final assault. Superman is confronted
by Lana, Lois and Cat, all of whom accuse him of being fickle with his love and
lying to them about his origins. Superman is able to withstand this assault,
and drifts into a restless sleep. In the sewers, other members of the Circle
find Prana’s corpse and Zahara’s unconscious body.

This is a different and interesting issue of Adventures of
Superman. Initially continuing the story of the assault on Metropolis, the issues
turns into something else, taking some interesting turns and leading us in a
far more character-driven direction than the awesomely action-filled cover
would suggest.

Prana and Zahara assault Superman’s psyche from four
different and relevant angles – his heritage, his villains, force of nature,
and his women. I find it amazing that so early on in the life of the
post-Crisis Superman, Marv Wolfman lays out the four origins of almost every
Superman story. Whilst the vision of Lara and Jor-El and Lex’s gang of villains
contain accusations that are easily rejected, the accusations of Lois, Lana and
Cat strike much closer to home. Superman does lie to those he loves. At this
stage in his life, with Lana not-quite behind him and with Lois and Cat as potential
partners, he is fickle with his affections. Frankly, this is a far more
realistic and chilling potential outcome of Clark’s alien nature than we saw in
Action Comics #794.

Superman taking overt action against a foreign state is a
big moment. We saw in The Dark Knight Returns a potential future where Superman
is a weapon for the United States Government, covertly assaulting America’s
enemies, the fear of his intrusion being as great as the his presence. In his
run on Adventures of Superman, Greg Rucka would use the concept of what
Superman’s presence in a war-zone would do to the conflict as the driving force
behind his story. It’s great to see the sheer power of Superman unleashed
against an army, something we’ve not really seen before, and the callous nature
of his entrance into the palace, smashing down the doors with a casual flick of
his finger, hints at a darker side to his rage that is manipulated by Prana.
Thankfully, Qurac would remain in the comics through this run and beyond, and
the consequences of Superman’s actions here would be felt in future issues.

As normal, Jerry Ordway’s art is great. The cover is one of
the early favourites, and his renditions of Prana’s attacks are just
otherworldly enough whilst remaining grounded. I particularly like how he draws
the illusion of Krypton, with Zahara and the sewers breaking through into the
illusion. Even the panel borders reflect this, become much rougher and unfinished. Once the assaults start, Superman appears shaken and disturbed, pale
and sweating, and thin in the face. Although it’s Prana who ultimately dies,
Superman is taking a toll from the battle and it’s showing on his face
throughout the night.

The Geeky Bits:
Qurac was for many years the fictional middle-eastern state used by DC whenever they needed a stand in for countries like Iraq or Afghanistan, that is, a state that supports or condones terrorism and an anti-West stance. It's no coincidence that President Marlo bears more than a passing resemblance to Saddam Hussein. The country once named the Joker as an ambassador, although this was a retcon as in the original storyline, it was Iran. Cheshire once decimated the country with a nuclear weapon. Over the years, more fictional middle-eastern territories, including Bialya, Khandaq and Umec would appear to give more texture to this region in the DC universe.

If, like me, you're wondering who the guy in the orange armour in the villains hallucination is, then you'll be pleased to hear that according to comicbookdb.com his name is Synapse, and his only other appearances were in three issues of Extreme Justice in 1995. And now you know!

This issue was reprinted in Superman: The Man Of Steel vol. 3 in 2004.

3 comments:

"Synapse" is actually the result of Project Synapse. He's Henry Chin aka "Combattor" who appears in a later issue, AoS #437 (same costume and everything). I guess Prana was channeling Luthor's subconscious by conjuring up this nightmare? This occurs way before Project Synapse even becomes a plotline, oddly.